Refrigerator



Oct. 12, 1937.

A. A. VLCEK REFRIGERATOR original Filed April so, 1935 FIG-1 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 5 15 .1 l l 'l' 11N l 111mm f lll aw 19 5- j 5 5 s A f2 i i 2o 24 i 26 27 la? -11 I A 'M vr 7 f i |4 2 L 1 X 27 29 (Y V) 6 \l\ 15 125 \`\\2 l I l l l INVENTOR.

@1,4% ma, @d ATTQRNEYS A. A. VLCEK REFRIGERATOR oct. 12, 1937.

Original Filed April 50, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. l2, 1937 .UNITED STATES V REFRIGERATOR Adolph A. vloek, Cleveland, Ohio original applicaiionaprii 3o, 1935, sei-iai Nol 18,977. Divided and this application January zo, 1936, serial No. 59,933

2 Claims.

sembly and disassembly of certain parts of the same for cleaning or repair.

Another object is to construct a. refrigerator, preferably of the so-called iceless type, in which the refrigerating mechanism is so arranged as to afford a maximum of storage space within the refrigerator.

j Other objects and advantages of my invention will become more apparent from the following description of two embodiments thereof, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters are employed to designate like parts throughout the same.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of one embodiment of my invention, with the door removed and partly in section, and shows the general arrangement of the parts constituting the refrigerating apparatus of the iceless type;

' Figure 2 is an enlarged detail elevation of the shelf supporting standard; y

Figure 3 is an enlarged section showing the removable bottom or fioor of the refrigerator and the manner of fastening it in place;

Figure 4 is a horizontal section through the refrigerator taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a similar section of a second embodiment of the invention in which the shelves may 40 be rotated to partially extend through the doorway of the refrigerator when the door is open;

Figure 6 is an enlarged elevation of a modified form of shelf support and bearing for rotatably supporting the same;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary detail view of the manner of detachably fixing one of the shelves on the support or standard; and,

Figure 8 is a-fragmentary detail section through the door or closure.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a body or'container I having a food compartment 2, a motor and pump compartment 3 below the compartment 2 and a refrigerating or freezing compartment 4 located in the uppermost part of and 55 within the food compartment.

(Cl. (i2-89) The walls of the bodyA I may be insulated against heat as at 5 in the usual manner, and an insulated door 6 is hinged to the body at 1 to close the opening in the front thereof.

The body I is substantially semi-cylindrical or U-shaped in cross section as illustrated in Figure 4, the curved `rear wall 8 being so designed to permit the body to t more snugly in a room cornersuch as at 9. This is a very desirable feature of the present invention, since a larger 10 refrigerator can thus bev used in a room where available space is extremely limited.

It is to be noted that the box or body I is con'- structed primarily in three units, a top unit I0, an intermediate storage and refrigeration unit 1* Il, and a lower supporting unit for receiving the motor, pump and other mechanical units of the refrigerating mechanism. These three units are separable, but are secured together by suitable means. One formof such securing means may consist of tie rods I3 spaced around the body as illustratedmore clearly in Figure 4. The ends of the rods are threaded at I4 and I5, the upper ends adapted to be screwed into threaded sockets I6 in the top unit, and forreceiving lock nuts I'I on their lower ends which project down into the motor compartment.

I'he body I is also provided with a plurality of vents I8 to carry olf the relatively warm air from the motor compartment. 'Ihese vents communicate with the motor compartment through the conduits I9 provided in the body I. These conduits are, of course, surrounded by thev insulating material 5 and the warm air is thus carried to a higher level through the walls of the box without any deleteriousl effect on the same. Otherwise this air could not readily escape from the compartment 3 and would under such conditions reduce the efficiency of the unit therein.

Conduit V2li carries the refrigerant from the lower chamber 3 to the refrigerating unit 2| and the conduit |23 carries the spent refrigerant back to the chamber 3. Z

To avoid the use of drip pans I have provided 4- a unit 2l for housing the refrigerating coils (not shown) and the ice cube trays 22, and which is also provided with downwardly inclined bottom or drain walls 23 which convey the drip to a discharge conduit 24. This conduit may pass down- 50 wardly through the box and out at the bottom and have connectionv with a secondary drain pipe or coil with trap leading to oo` drains installed in homes for refrigerators through a wall of the home to the outside. The refrigerator may thus --z without attending the @im ing automatically rried on.

The unit 2i is suprted in the upmoet rt of the co ment t and is supported rigidiy by the side connections 2d which also serve to connect the refrigerant delivery and discrge conduits' and the drip discharge connection isb in rear.

In the forni oi my invention shown in Figures l to i, I provide a standard 2t located near the vertical axis of the body i, and which y be removed readily from the box. This standard carries a plurality of article supporting trays or shelves 27 of disc-like formation and having peripheral retaining anges 2d. In Figure 2 i have illustrated the construction of the standard in moredetaii, in which the ilxed standard sec tion 29 is supported vertically on a base 3@ secured to the bottom wall or floor of the box. This section terminates at its upper end in a substantially conical bearing member 3i which is removably xed in the tube 29 by means of a pin 32. Two conical bearing faces are shown at 8i and s3 and are adapted to engage the internal surfaces 3d and 35 respectively of the bearing unit 3S. The surfaces of the male bearing converge upwardly, so that the weight of articles on the shelves 2l will be transmitted through the member 3b to the bearing 3i.

The shelf supporting means is preferably composed of sections which are readily assembled into a single unit and which may be quickly disassembled to remove the sections from the interior of the body i.

The rigid standard 29 is xed in the oor member 55 of the body and, as explained above, terminates in the bearing members 3i .and 33 at its upper end, and constitutes one section of the support. which removably carries the internal bearing member 3b in its upper end. This section is telescoped over the bearings 3i and 33 and is thus rotatably supported thereon. The shelves 2l on p, t wthe sleeve 3l? are secured thereto by means of the set screws 3d.

The upper section comprises a tube i3? which atits lower end ts snugly over the upper end of the internal bearing member 36 and may be secured thereto by means of a set screw i3d. The circular shelves 2l on theupper section are held in place by means of the set screws 38 operating in selective openings in the tube i3? and are thus adjustable vertically thereof and are easily removable.

To remove the sections, the upper section is released by removing the screw E38 and the section pulled upwardly to unseat the upper end of the bearing member 36 from the lower end of the tube |31. The intermediate section may next be removed by sliding it upwardly on the fixed standard 29. Of course the various shelves Z1 may be removed independently from their axial supports by releasing the set screws 38.

Thus it will be seen the disc-like trays or shelves are freely rotatable on the standard 28 through the bearing 36 andl, and that this entire assembly may `quickly and easily be dismounted for cleaning or repair.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 6, I have shown a modied form of bearing for supporting the sleeve 40 and bearing member 4I. The bearing in this instance may be a ball d2 freely rotatable and seated loosely in a depression 43 in the head I 43 xed to the standard 29 by the pin |50. A similar depression d4 is formed Another section includes the sleeve 31' spaanse in the mr di and the spherical surface of the ball as own to support the lo.

in Figure li have illustra .i a second embodiment of my invention which is quite similar to that described in connection with Fis i. to i inclusive but which ers in that the depth of the body i is less than the diameter of the trays or shelves du. The periphery ci each oi' the shelves is circular or er." at di throughout the greater extent thereof but is dat or in a substantially straight line as at 52. When the door d is closed the shelves willi be in the position shown in Figure 5 with the straight edge S2 substantially parallel to the plane of the closed door.

When the door is opened, the operator may have ready access to articles on the rear of the shelves by simply rotating them substantially 180 to the dotted line position at 53. This part of the shelves then intersects the plane of the door, if closed, and thus prevents closing the door until the shelves are returned to the normal position shown in this gure. A

In Figure 3 I have shown in larger detail the manner of sealing the floor or bottom in the body i. An annular seat 55 is formed in the oor'section 56 and in the body wall 5i and is adapted to receive a gasket or pacin'ng bd. The body wall Sil underlies the floor section and supports it as shown. Suitable clamping straps d@ carried by the bolts G and bridging the under surface of the door and portion 5l are provided at intervals.

The motor, pump and coils in the lower compartment 3 are supported on a baseboard Si suspended by rods 62 from the body i. Springs t3 carried by the rods 62 will reduce vibration due to the operation of the motor and pump.

It will be seen that by my invention I have provided an extremely simple and eiicient refrigerator construction, which lends itself to low cost of manufacture and high production methods. Furthermore, the utility of the device is increased because of its easyl adaptability for use in limited space, as well as for cleaning and repair.

Various changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claimz' 1. In a refrigerator, a cabinet comprising a heat insulated refrigerating compartment, a motor compartment, 'each of said compartments being dened in part by a wall substantially U- shaped in cross-section and a front closure to facilitate close tting into room corners, a venting conduit embedded in a side wall of the refrigerating compartment and heat insulated therefrom, said conduit having communication with the motor compartment for venting the heated air in the motor compartment through the said wall of the refrigerating compartment and opening horizontally of the said compartment to the outside atmosphere at a point just below the top of the refrlgeratlng compartment.

2. 'In a refrigerator a cabinet comprising a heat insulated refrigerating compartment, a. motor compartment, and a venting conduit embedded in a side wall of the refrigerating compartment and heat insulated from the compartment, said conduit having communication with the motor compartment` for venting the heated air in the motor compartment through the insulated wall of the refrigerating compartment and opening horizontally just below the top of the said refrlgerating compartment to the outside atmosphere.

` ADOLPH A. VLCM. 

